Flying high with mobile in flight

It has recently been announced that flyers in the US can now use their gadgets on all parts of the flight, all the way from take off to landing.

Now, Europe is coming in to line with this ruling after the European Aviation safety Agency (EASA) issued guidelines to “extend to all phases of flight the possibility to use personal electronic devices (PED) such as tablets, smartphones, e-readers and mp3 players”.

The ruling is still subject to review by individual airlines and should be implemented by the end of November, although guidelines also state that devices should be used in Airplane mode thus ensuring that no SMS or calls can be sent or received.

This is a major step in the process of expanding the freedom to use personal electronic devices on-board aircraft without compromise in safety,” said Patrick Ky, EASA Executive Director.

The EASA also said that they are “looking at ways to certify the use of mobile phones on-board aircraft to make phone calls.” If this comes to fruition then get ready to listen to hour upon hour of others conversations in-flight. Oh joy!